Tag Archives: create

The other day I was given a fun gift by a friend and co-laborer in the kingdom of God: tickets to Switchfoot! This is a favorite band of the Peder Eide family. The seats were great! My wife Sherri and two of our children, Ethan and Allison, sat and prepared ourselves for a rare treat to be together and enjoy a concert where I wasn’t a part of it.

From the beginning song all the way through the end, the whole audience sang every song with the band. People celebrated, were inspired, and were moved by the experience of being in a room with other people who have a common love for a style and presentation of music.

Still there was more. What is it about Switchfoot that made it so welcoming to sing these songs loud and like they are your own?

During the concert, I recalled a conversation I had with a friend on our trip to India in January. We were talking about art and the church, favorite groups, what makes a group or an artist last in this industry we call music. It really comes down to the song. It’s about really great songs. Great communication using music, drama, art, etc. Yes, we all have different tastes and preferences but within those it’s still about an excellent creation of a song, painting, story, play, and so on.

What so powerful to me is how a writer like Jon Foreman of Switchfoot writes these amazing songs we get to hear and sing a long with yet these are not all the songs he has written. These are his best, his favorites, the ones that make the cut for the records. They are the most excellent. The result? Years of powerful messages, inspiring lyrics, and changed hearts because of the commitment to being excellent!

I think about what we create in our everyday lives. We all create. Whether we’re ministers, business people, educators, computer technicians, students, singers, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, we all create! We create a level of which we do our occupation or study in school. We create and form the shape of what kind of man or woman we will be. We create an environment by our attitudes, temperaments, words, and actions that direct and affect all those around us.

Do we do it with excellence? Scripture is loaded with verses doing whatever we do with the highest regard to imitating the Father. Running to “win” the prize. (1 Cor. 9:24-27). If anything excellent, pure, praise-worthy, think on these things (Phil. 4:8). Be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). It’s not because we will impress God but truly it is a response to who God is and to glorify Him. It’s always about God.

Here’s another example of excellence from Lake Michigan. What God has created He lets us enjoy and see Himself in it. It’s a loving thing God has done.

Do you think that your pursuit of excellence in whatever you do is not only glorifying God but loving to those around you? Imagine your effort towards your art, music, parenting, studies, responsibilities, verbal responses, facial expressions, being a husband, wife, brother, or sister are truly something to be done excellent and your effort to be excellent is loving?

Thoughts? Email me at Peder[at]pedereide[dot]com and give me some feedback.